Nostalgia can be a powerful tool when wielded correctly, but it hasn’t been enough to convince the skeptics that Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is worthy of being reappraised as an overlooked minor Marvel classic.
Tim Story’s duology is so mid-2000s that it almost causes physical cringe on occasion, but the franchise was put out its mercy after just two installments following a lukewarm critical reception, underwhelming box office returns, and the lack of forward movement on the planned Silver Surfer spinoff, leaving the property to drift off into development hell.